[CQ-Contest] A principle to go by when evaluating contest rules.

[Scott Currier]

Very wise, contest participation is good. The sponsors are under little pressure to make changes thus those who are hoping for change will face disappointment. 

Absent a very compelling reason, such as no participation, the sponsors are unlikely to make any changes. 

73 and good contesting. 

Scott Currier KT1B
Haverhill, MA























> From: K1TTT at ARRL.NET
> To: cq-contest at contesting.com
> Date: Thu, 10 Dec 2009 01:01:37 +0000
> Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] A principle to go by when evaluating contest rules.
> 
> There are only 2 criteria I use in evaluating contest rules:
> 
> 1. What is the date and do I have anything else scheduled then already.
> 2. How to operate to have the most fun given the rules as written.
> 
> 
> 
> David Robbins K1TTT
> e-mail: mailto:k1ttt at arrl.net
> web: http://www.k1ttt.net
> AR-Cluster node: 145.69MHz or telnet://dxc.k1ttt.net
>  
> 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Scott Currier [mailto:scott_currier at hotmail.com]
> > Sent: Wednesday, December 09, 2009 04:16
> > To: cq-contest at contesting.com
> > Subject: [CQ-Contest] A principle to go by when evaluating contest rules.
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > I think that it is reasonable to have an idea of what you want the contest
> > to measure before designing your contest. Start the process by laying out
> > your goals.
> > 
> > As far as the CQ-WW DX contest goes, the contest sponsors state that the
> > objective is for Amateurs around the world to contact as many other hams
> > in as many zones and countries as possible.
> > 
> > Ok, that being said, why are continents figured in the scoring? Does
> > figuring in continents help or hinder the stated objective?
> > 
> > I think it hinders it because in effect it changes the objective. You now
> > need to contact as many hams as possible on OTHER continents. That's not
> > what the original objective says. Therefore the scoring system isn't
> > matched properly to the objective.
> > 
> > The real CQ WW Dx objective is to work as many hams around the world in as
> > many zones and countries as possible, provided they're on different
> > continents.
> > 
> > So, what do you have to do now? Easy, get as close to the population
> > centers as possible without being on the same continent.
> > 
> > That monkey wrench of the continent issue really throws things off and
> > creates a situation where the winner and person behind him are separated
> > not by who worked the most countries or zones but by something not even in
> > the objective of the contest. They happened to make a lot more 3point q's
> > because of the continent issue.
> > 
> > If it's not in the objective, why does it have such prominence in the
> > scoring?
> > 
> > 
> > WPX is even worse.
> > 
> > WPX sponsor states that the objective is as follows...
> > 
> > I. Objective: For amateurs world wide to contact as many amateurs
> > 		and prefixes as possible during the contest period.
> > 
> > If that is the case, then why more points if the other station is on a
> > different continent? If the objective is to believed, why more points for
> > use of the lower HF bands?
> > 
> > The objective is not to work as many hams and prefixes as possible, it's
> > to contact as many hams and prefixes on different continents and on the
> > lower bands as possible if you want to get the highest score for the
> > number of contacts that you make.
> > 
> > The scoring is out of line with the contest objective.
> > 
> > Extra points because of distance, continent, zone, band, or anything else
> > aren't part of the objective and therefore don't belong if the objective
> > is to be believed, which it clearly is not.
> > 
> > According to the contest sponsors, the name of the game is prefixes.
> > According to the scoring it's prefixes with a rather large disclaimer and
> > strings attached. In other words, these prefixes over here are better than
> > those prefixes over there. At least for some people.
> > 
> > If the contest is part dx contest and part prefix contest, put that in the
> > objective.
> > 
> > With that being said, it seems to me that contest rules need to be looked
> > at to see if they support the contest objectives or move the contest in a
> > different direction.
> > 
> > After all, without knowing what the sponsors are looking to accomplish,
> > how can you tell whether or not a rule makes sense? The objectives are
> > your reference point.
> > 
> > 73 all and good contesting.
> > 
> > Scott Currier KT1B
> > Haverhill, MA
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> 
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